The Foundation for Free Enterprise Education held its final session of Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (July 31-Aug. 5) at Penn College, bringing more than 300 high schoolers to campus to hone their communication skills while being exposed to the concepts of teamwork, cooperation and leadership. The students stayed in campus housing, ate meals in the Keystone Dining Room and Capitol Eatery, and spent a whole lot of collaborative time in Klump Academic Center classrooms and auditorium. With galvanizing speakers and interactive learning exercises, PFEW provides a real-life educational experience for industrious students – each of whom is sponsored by a private-sector benefactor. Throughout the week, the students replicate the responsibilities, rewards and challenges of managing a corporation, marketing a product, and satisfying shareholders and customers alike. Among those on hand to guide and inspire the students was college President Michael J. Reed, who delivered a keynote address during a General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon.
– Photos by Larry D. Kauffman, digital publishing specialist/photographer
As students return to the ACC after lunch, an infectious playlist draws many to the stage for a "Cupid Shuffle" outbreak.
Kicking off the Tuesday afternoon itinerary (and dressed appropriately for a campus drenched in midsummer swelter) is Kevin W. Davis, retired chief executive officer of The Davis Group in Altoona. A Foundation for Free Enterprise Education board member.
President Reed is introduced by two of the week's company CEOs: Corrin Johnson (left) and Lirik Carson.
Interactive from the get-go, the president picks the crowd's collective brain with an icebreaker worthy of their business-minded focus: "How do you place yourself in the best position for long-term success?"
Against the backdrop of his native Pittsburgh, immediately endearing himself to guests from western Pennsylvania, the keynoter provides a snapshot of his upbringing as one of 10 children (and a first-generation college student) from a three-bedroom, working-class home.
A photo of Penn College's roomy welding facilities, followed by an enticing video about a "future made by hand," kindled students' interest in the academic options available to tomorrow makers.
Working the room from ground level to balcony, Reed solicits answers to a foundational question. Premised on Daniel H. Pink's writings – which discuss the driving forces of purpose, mastery and autonomy – Reed's inquiry prompted some equally compelling responses, from "money, love and power" to "coffee" to "fear of failure."